I recently purchased a used 2008 AI and I can't remove the akas pins. I've soak them in WD-40 and Liquid Wrench to no avail. I twisted the top (bent portion) off on one of them trying to work it out and had tried to drive them out with a hammer also. I don't think I can drill them out because the pins are stainless and the akas are aluminum so there's no way a drill bit would stay in the hole surrounded by aluminum. Just thought maybe some of you might have another idea. Thanks

Wow. Sounds like the Aka crossbar is also bent and the holes are off kilter. That would be more likely than serious twisting of the stainless pins. But,..

I would flip the boat, raise it and have someone pull down hard and twist slightly on the lubricated pins while you use a straight steel pin or punch to drive the Aka pin out. Together, you should be able to "walk" it out.

You could remove the whole brace and try this on a vise using an impact hammer. It would be safe then to apply a little heat to the aluminum.

Either way, if it's seriously torqued, you'll likely need to get new (straight) pins and have the aluminum holes soldered and redrilled.

Cutting a SS pin that size would take awhile, but is another option. I would remove the bar from the boat first.

I don't think the akas cross bar is bent, I just think someone stored it outside and didn't bother to cover it up. So therefore the pins have seized inside the crossbar. The akas still swing fine. The pins just won't pull out. Not that big of a deal, I carry the AI on top of my truck and it be easy to load it if I could take the akas off easily. I'll try taking off and heating them. I haven't tried that yet.

Sounds like galvanic corrosion betwen the stainless and aluminium. The aka pivot ok so check which parts are moving. The pin is seized to either the crossbar or the aka.You could try pouring boiling water onto the seized bit. Failing that greater heat or even cold might work. This product has good reviews.

Well I found a product that's supposed to be better than "liquid wrench" and soaked the pins in it for 2 hours then put in vise to push out pins. Still no luck. I'll soak for 24 hours and try again tomorrow. if no luck then I guess I'll order some new crossbars.

Hey NOHUHU, Well something worked! I soaked it all night, then I put it back in the vise and heated the crossbar knuckle until i heard it starting to expand then to a hammer and drove the pin side to side. I could see the pin sliding in the vise. I tighten the vise more and kept hammering the pin side to side until it had moved flush with the aka knuckle then took a drift pin and drove it out the rest of the way.I have two of the other knuckles soaking tonight, hopefully they will come out also. Thanks for the help guys.